Articles tagged with: Eating Disorders

I have to admit, when I was first introduced to the concept of orthorexia, a condition characterized by an obsession with healthy eating and food quality, I thought, I definitely know some people who have this. From my mom who has rotated between every kind of alternative milk known to man (she's currently on flax milk), to my vegan friend who gives me a 30-minute rant on chard at least twice a week, health-conscious individuals who seem to fit the characteristics of this disease are everywhere. Point being: many people in this day and age are extremely conscious of what they put in their bodies, but as I quickly learned, it takes much more than a strong interest in healthy eating to classify someone as having orthorexia. So what is the difference between people with healthy habits and people who cross over into orthorexia?

Kelsey Thomas, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist at our Seattle outpatient location, earned an outstanding preceptor award from the University of Washington for her work educating and supervising dietetic interns.

“To be selected for this award shows the success of my intern!” said Kelsey. “Teaching is one of my passions and I’m so proud I get the opportunity to be a preceptor so I can pass along the gift of my expertise and knowledge like my preceptors did when I was an intern.”

It takes a multidisciplinary team to treat eating disorders, and each member plays a vital role in getting clients on the road to recovery. That is why we’re highlighting the various roles within our care team in this blog series.

Dr. Mary Bretzman is one such team member. She serves as The Emily Program’s family physician in our Intensive Day Treatment program and residential program in St. Paul, MN, the Anna Westin House.

Personality traits are often studied in reference to eating disorders in an attempt to better understand the illness and its causes. Two traits that have received a great deal of attention in people with anorexia are impulsivity and compulsivity.

One of the many complexities of treating eating disorders is the multiple biases that we must confront. Some are obvious and some are hidden, but in either case, the bias makes it difficult for some people to access treatment or fully benefit from it.

People often think "Eating disorders are a woman's disease." This myth is constantly reinforced by character portrayals on television, targeted advertisements, and even studies and articles that draw from exclusively female samples. The sad reality is that eating disorders affect any and all genders, and those who do not identify as female may even suffer more with the very diagnosis of their disease due to the stereotype that eating disorders are feminine. Therefore, although eating disorders affect each individual differently, it is important to consider one's gender identification in order to increase efficacy for prevention, detection, and treatment of the disease.

Dee joined The Emily Program team at the opening of the Spokane location in the summer of 2013. She was thrilled to see this type of eating disorder treatment resource right in her town. She spent more than 15 years in private practice specializing in eating disorders, but longed to work for a treatment center.

Recovery is possible and it happens in so many ways. Come see for yourself! Our Recovery Nights provide a safe, inspiring, and powerful forum for community members, former clients, and Emily Program staff to share their journey to recovery.

We will be hosting a Recovery Night at our Spokane, WA site on Tuesday, August 8th, at 6:00 p.m.

We recently asked people in recovery from an eating disorder to share their thoughts about the illness. We hope these insights from those who have "been there" help if you're seeking answers and understanding. A big thanks to everyone who contributed to this post and to all the supportive friends and family out there.

These are personal perspectives; everyone will have unique experiences on their own path to recovery and beyond. Some stories may mention eating disorder thoughts, behaviors or symptom use. Please use your own discretion. And speak with your therapist when needed.

The tween years (ages 8 to 14) are often plagued with acne, social anxiety, and desperate cries for independence. Although this life stage is disregarded in many psychological contexts, it's actually vital in the development of identity and reasoning capabilities. The exposure to social messages and expectations during the 'tween-age' years can set the mold for the rest of a person’s life. And considering tweens spend a lot of their time in front of screens—research shows that tweens spend 4.5 hours a day watching TV (and that's to say nothing of time spent online)—it’s important examine the messages that kids in this impressionable age group are consuming.

This is one person's story; everyone will have unique experiences on their own path to recovery and beyond. Some stories may mention eating disorder thoughts, behaviors or symptom use. Please use your own discretion. And speak with your therapist when needed.

by Sara Stein, a former Emily Program client. Sara is a therapist and musician from Cleveland, OH.

How It Began

The word “diet” had infiltrated my being at a pre-teen age. For whatever reason, THIS was my Achilles heel in life – this was the thing that was going to reel me in again and again and unfurl all sorts of chaos, havoc and heartache.

To keep it short and simple, I spent years and decades trying to manage and control my food intake and construct my body to look and be a certain way. There was always this gnawing, annoying thing in the back of my head telling me I wasn’t enough, that I ate the wrong thing, that something bad was going to happen, and that I needed to work harder and do better.

This is one person's story; everyone will have unique experiences on their own path to recovery and beyond. Some stories may mention eating disorder thoughts, behaviors or symptom use. Please use your own discretion. And speak with your therapist when needed.

by Liz Rognes, a former Emily Program client in recovery. She is a teacher, writer, and musician who lives in Spokane, WA.

A few years ago, when my second album was about to come out, a local alt weekly wrote an article about me. Without my consent, the journalist included information in the article about my struggles with an eating disorder and drug and alcohol abuse. She included specific details that she found on a recovery blog I used to keep. The story she wrote had a narrative arc that was about a queer girl who hit rock bottom, overcame bulimia and addiction, and then turned it all into music. It didn’t paint me in a negative light, exactly, and she did also write nice things about my music, but the inclusion of my struggles from the past in someone else’s words, without warning, shocked me. It was worded in such a way that it sounded like I had shared that information with her in an interview, but I had not. I had not disclosed any information about my history of bulimia or addiction with her, and I struggled to understand why she had included it.